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The Telecom Digest for February 10, 2011
Volume 30 : Issue 37 : "text" Format
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====== 29 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
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Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:38:01 -0800
From: Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Telephone humor on TV
Message-ID: <nfKdneDkF97n_c_QnZ2dnUVZ_u-dnZ2d@giganews.com>
Lisa or Jeff wrote:
> *In real life that would be impossible since Touch Tone signals
> consist of two tones, deliberately designed that way so that accident
> tones wouldn't disrupt making a call. Now if two people whistled
> their correct portions of the desired tone. . .
>
Or, they could have one of those 1970's little Touchtone boxes lying
around, that you held against the mouthpiece then keyed in the desired
tones. I had one; it worked quite well actually. Powered by a 9 v battery.
***** Moderator's Note *****
I had one of those boxes, coincidentally colored blue. It worked
extremely well on the payphones at Santa Barbara City College, which
functioned normally without coins being deposited - except that the
dial was disabled.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 12:31:25 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Telephone humor on TV and Touch Tone calling
Message-ID: <62617c6e-b025-4bc7-8480-14b9b944d196@z3g2000prz.googlegroups.com>
On Feb 9, 4:38 am, Sam Spade <s...@coldmail.com> wrote:
> Or, they could have one of those 1970's little Touchtone boxes lying
> around, that you held against the mouthpiece then keyed in the
> desired tones. I had one; it worked quite well actually. Powered
> by a 9 v battery.
>
> ***** Moderator's Note *****
>
> I had one of those boxes, coincidentally colored blue. It worked
> extremely well on the payphones at Santa Barbara City College, which
> functioned normally without coins being deposited - except that the
> dial was disabled.
In the 1980s Touch Tone was a premium charge service*. I discovered
back then that even if a phone line was not equipped for Touch Tone
sometimes a TT phone would work on it, sometimes not. If memory
serves, a rotary line served by a No. 5 crossbar supported TT, but a
line from an ESS did not. I suspect in the xbar it was easier just to
wire everybody in rather than bother to make a distinction while in
ESS it was controlled by computer.
*Most telephone services in regulated days were based on value to the
customer, not necessarily cost to provide. The idea was that very
basic telephone service would be cheap and affordable while premium
options would be profitable to offset basic service costs. Originally
Touch Tone receivers for the central office were expensive but by the
1980s with ESS the cost dropped.
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 13:36:56 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Lieutenant governor will come to Framingham to promote 211
Message-ID: <p062408adc9788f171421@[10.0.1.2]>
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1111632695/Lieutenant-governor-will-come-to-Framingham-to-promote-211
Lieutenant governor will come to Framingham to promote 211
By Staff reports
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Feb 09, 2011 @ 12:25 PM
FRAMINGHAM -
Lt. Gov. Tim Murray will be in Framingham on Friday to raise
awareness of Mass2-1-1 and announce a new partnership between the
program and the state's Department of Veterans Services.
Mass2-1-1 is a partnership between the state and United Way. Bay
State callers can dial 211 for help finding community services, from
after-school programs to food banks to legal and financial services.
Calls are free.
The service launched in 2007 and has fielded more than 201,000 calls
since then, according to the Patrick administration. The Mass.
Emergency Management Agency has designated 211 as the state's main
information call center for help finding services during emergencies.
Gov. Deval Patrick is declaring Friday, Feb. 11, as Mass2-1-1 day to
promote the call service. Murray will visit the program's
headquarters in Framingham that day to highlight the service and
discuss plans to add an extended list of veterans' services to the
211 database.
211 is available at all hours, seven days a week, with translation
and TTY services available.
Copyright 2011 The MetroWest Daily News. Some rights reserved
Date: 9 Feb 2011 05:56:14 -0000
From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Telephone humor on TV
Message-ID: <20110209055614.33234.qmail@joyce.lan>
>*In real life that would be impossible since Touch Tone signals
>consist of two tones, deliberately designed that way so that accident
>tones wouldn't disrupt making a call. Now if two people whistled
>their correct portions of the desired tone. . .
Where's my Cap'n Crunch whistle when I need it?
R's,
John
***** Moderator's Note *****
It's stored right next to the SF units.
Bill Horne
Moderator
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2011 21:11:36 -0800 (PST)
From: Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Gladwell, Google, Twitter & Egypt: Social Media's Revolutionary Mystery
Message-ID: <8dbb15a8-8752-4796-bfdd-7c228810456e@w21g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>
On Feb 8, 11:20 pm, Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote:
> Gladwell, Google, Twitter & Egypt: Social Media's Revolutionary Mystery
There have been conflicting news reports on the impact modern
technologies have had on the Egyptian revolution. Some reports credit
the technologies. But other news reports say only a minority of
people have access to modern devices and techniques because the
country overall is very poor.
iMHO, we'll have to wait for the 'dust to settle' to get a better feel
on the impact and involvement of the new technologies (and many other
questions, too.) It seems to me much of the reporting has been based
on isolated interviews with various participants, which is not
necessarily representative of the full group of protesters or the rest
of the country. Also, just because someone grants an interview does
not mean he/she knows the full story or is even giving accurate
information.
Despite instantaneous communications, some information still takes
time to get properly communicated, especially in violatile situations
like this. For example, Instant TV and the Internet allows us to
immediately see a person throw a rock at another person. Such images
are extremely dramatic. But that immediacy and intimacy does not
really tell us anything---we really don't know who the assailent or
victim are, and more importantly, whether that assault is an isolated
incident or truly representative of a larger engagement.
As we've seen in elections, sometimes "instant' predictions made on
very little data can turn out to be wrong.
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 14:18:04 -0500
From: Eric Tappert <e.tappert.spamnot@worldnet.att.net>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Gladwell, Google, Twitter & Egypt: Social Media's Revolutionary Mystery
Message-ID: <cup5l653gr4odr2j7h2oh6ocgmgcuaeu4c@4ax.com>
On Tue, 8 Feb 2011 21:11:36 -0800 (PST), Lisa or Jeff
<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
>On Feb 8, 11:20 pm, Monty Solomon <mo...@roscom.com> wrote:
>> Gladwell, Google, Twitter & Egypt: Social Media's Revolutionary Mystery
>
>There have been conflicting news reports on the impact modern
>technologies have had on the Egyptian revolution. Some reports credit
>the technologies. But other news reports say only a minority of
>people have access to modern devices and techniques because the
>country overall is very poor.
>
>iMHO, we'll have to wait for the 'dust to settle' to get a better feel
>on the impact and involvement of the new technologies (and many other
>questions, too.) It seems to me much of the reporting has been based
>on isolated interviews with various participants, which is not
>necessarily representative of the full group of protesters or the rest
>of the country. Also, just because someone grants an interview does
>not mean he/she knows the full story or is even giving accurate
>information.
>
>Despite instantaneous communications, some information still takes
>time to get properly communicated, especially in violatile situations
>like this. For example, Instant TV and the Internet allows us to
>immediately see a person throw a rock at another person. Such images
>are extremely dramatic. But that immediacy and intimacy does not
>really tell us anything---we really don't know who the assailent or
>victim are, and more importantly, whether that assault is an isolated
>incident or truly representative of a larger engagement.
>
>
>As we've seen in elections, sometimes "instant' predictions made on
>very little data can turn out to be wrong.
While I agree the jury is still out, don't forget that the government
did shut down these kinds of services; obviously viewing them as a
serious threat.
ET
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 09:58:08 +0000 (UTC)
From: danny burstein <dannyb@panix.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Telephone humor on TV
Message-ID: <iitofg$6f$1@reader1.panix.com>
In <3143f5f4-bc43-44f0-938c-6710aa5a4edb@e21g2000yqe.googlegroups.com> Lisa or Jeff <hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> writes:
[snip... regarding whistling in place of using a touch tone
key so as to get a v-mail system to delete a msg]
>*In real life that would be impossible since Touch Tone signals
>consist of two tones, deliberately designed that way so that accident
>tones wouldn't disrupt making a call. Now if two people whistled
>their correct portions of the desired tone. . .
True enough, if, and that's _if_, the v-mail system
is "really" listening for true dual-frequency Touch
Tones. A least in the Good Old Early Daze, when filtering
for Touch Tones required Real Circuitry, many systems
just looked for one of the tones.
(And yes, of course, that limited the keypad options).
--
_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2011 18:25:03 +0000 (UTC)
From: "Mark G. Thomas" <Mark@Misty.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Better check that iTune software box (humor)
Message-ID: <slrnil5mvv.1868.Mark@allie.home.misty.com>
On 2011-01-23, AES <siegman@stanford.edu> wrote:
> In article <opudnSftLJ8wu6fQnZ2dnUVZ_oidnZ2d@giganews.com>,
> Sam Spade <sam@coldmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Cartoonist view of the wrath of Apple for not really reading that
>> software agreement before checking the little box:
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/4toyzrp
>
> Is the iTunes software agreement really (as stated in the cartoon)
> _55 pages_ long?
>
> [Despite being an intensive user of Mac computers, I've hated iTunes
> since the day it appeared, and refuse to have anything to do with any
> gadgets or software that require its use -- so I've never actually
> encountered that agreement.]
Yes, it is in fact 55 pages long:
http://www.ismashphone.com/2010/10/terms-of-service-who-reads-them.html
Mark
--
Mark G. Thomas (Mark@Misty.com)
http://mail-cleaner.com/
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 18:30:31 +0000
From: info_at_cabling-design_dot_com@foo.com (Dmitricabling-Design.com)
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: Phone booths
Message-ID: <bbb3a$4d52dd47$42bb6765$11808@news.flashnewsgroups.com>
Dmitri(cabling-Design.com) had written this in response to
http://forums.cabling-design.com/telecom/Phone-booths-telecom-78386-.htm :
Eric Tappert wrote:
> Now I think it is nice that the city went extra lengths to protect the
> police officiers from the inclement weather, but my real question is
> where do you get a phone booth these days and how much does it cost??
I actually know an individual (former Bell tech, naturally) that owns a
phone booth, the nice wooden variety, and it's displayed right in his
living room. There is a phone in it and it's hooked up to his land line. I
don't know if it gets much (if any) use though. Not sure about the origins
of the booth either, should ask when I see him again. But if you're
looking for an older, wooden one, you can come across one in an antique
store every so often. I've seen them. I think it's safe to assume that
most (all?) more recent aluminum ones will eventually be sold for metal
scrap.
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
Best Regards,
Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
http://www.cabling-design.com/homecabling/
Home Cabling Guide, Cabling Forum, color codes, pinouts and other useful
resources for premises cabling users and pros
--
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| http://forums.cabling-design.com/ |
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| no-spam Web and RSS interface to your favorite newsgroup |
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Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:51:27 -0500
From: tlvp <tPlOvUpBErLeLsEs@hotmail.com>
To: telecomdigestmoderator.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org.
Subject: Re: In-app purchases in iPad, iPhone, iPod kids' games touch off parental firestorm
Message-ID: <op.vqnwn1y8itl47o@acer250.gateway.2wire.net>
On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:34:43 -0500, Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote:
> In-app purchases in iPad, iPhone, iPod kids' games touch off
> parental firestorm
>
> ... Madison's mom, Stephanie Kay, was shocked to find very real
> charges from iTunes show up in her e-mail box days later.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/07/AR2011020706073.html
IANAL, whence it's hard for me to imagine such charges rung up by a minor
could possibly be held to be collectible.
Cheers, -- tlvp
--
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP
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